The Institut Laue-Langevin has a new director

Professor William Stirling has been appointed the new Director of the NMI3’s coordinator institution, with effect since the 1st of January 2014.

Professor William Stirling

Prof Stirling. Credit ESRF / Chantal Argoud

Professor Stirling has extensive experience in the field of neutron science. He has studied physics at the University of Edinburgh and his thesis work included time at neutron facilities at Chalk River, Canada (CRNL) and Harwell, UK (UKAEA).

His first job in science was in fact at ILL, where he had the opportunity to design and build instruments as an instrument scientist. He later went on to sit on a number of ILL advisory committees while a professor of physics at Keele and Liverpool Universities, before being appointed Director General of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in 2001. Prof Stirling completed his tenure at the ESRF in 2008 and took up his most recent position as a scientific adviser at the French CEA, working on the GIANT Innovation Campus in Grenoble, which includes both the ILL and the ESRF.

Professor Stirling will replace Professor Andrew Harrison who has been Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin since 2011 and is due to take the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Diamond Light Source in the UK.